𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄
Meet Harper

"BE WARNED, that lovable friend of mine is not a sociable gal, but she can never resist me." Garrett grins confidently, his tall and lanky frame leisurely walking in the empty hallway of his friend's building unit in Manchester, England, at 1 in the morning.

It wasn't his ideal place or territory to step into, but Eden insisted that they'll need as many witnesses as they could possibly convince to side with them instead of the Volturi.

Rosalie looks at Eden hesitantly; they've never encountered, met, or even heard of Garrett's friend, and they know almost half of the vampire population in the world because of Eden and Carlisle's connections around the globe, or just a close friend of theirs has a friend who knows who'll help them, like Garrett and his friend, except they know nothing about her.

Garrett told them on the way that his friend values her privacy with the utmost importance and that she is not one to make friends or adore making them; she prefers to keep it to herself. It answered most of Eden and Rosalie's questions as to why they don't know anything about Garrett's friend.

"And why is that, Garrett?" Eden laces her fingers with Rose's as they walk behind Garrett.

Looking around the elegant yet minimalistic white and gold-toned lounging area that they passed, one thing is certain: Garrett's friend is classy, elite even.

Garrett brushed Eden's question off with a wave of his hand and said, "Long story." He shrugs, tucking both of his hands into his rugged black jeans pocket, and they enter another corridor where ash wood doors surround the hallway.

Garrett's movements halted when he reached his destination, unit 604. He knocked loudly, "May!" He chants, dragging the words through his mouth, "Open the door, May!"

"I hear you shuffling inside!"

The door suddenly opened halfway, a hand on the side. Eden and Rosalie took a peek behind Garrett's shoulder. A woman stood behind the door, her short, fiery red hair lazily curled, dressed in a green silk robe, a scowl on her lush, cupid lips.

"It's not even been two months since we've seen each other, and here you are, already pissing me off." She huffed, looking at him with narrowed eyes, but Garrett didn't seem to care about the rude greeting; it was as if he was already used to it. He leans on the door frame with crossed arms.

"Nobody is pissing anywhere; that's disgusting, May." Garrett scolds teasingly, scratching his stubble beard with a mocking grin.

Eden and Rosalie watched the interaction silently with intrigue; the woman, as Garrett told them earlier, is not the welcoming type.

"What do you want now, Garrett?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

Garrett then glances behind him, then looks at the woman, and says, "Just wanted to visit my favorite friend, and I brought company." He points his thumb towards Eden and Rosalie, and the woman tilts her head, glazing in their direction; her eyes then shift back to Garrett with a frown.

"Does my face indicate that I want to talk to people at this hour?" She blankly looks at him yet opens the door wide, with Garrett striding inside comfortably.

"No, but you don't have a choice," May huffed annoyedly, rolling her eyes. Garrett beckoned Eden and Rosalie to enter May's unit.

With the two women entered with hesitance.

Garrett flops on the white fluffy couch, bouncing slightly, legs sprawled, and Rosalie sits on the rustic, deep green-colored armchair with Eden beside her. May walk towards the kitchen, opens the fridge, and takes three blood bags from the compartment.

Rosalie looked around the living room with its warm and cozy tones of green and brown and furniture strategically placed with minimalist decoration that added texture to the room.

She noticed that the room was filled with bookshelves and was organized and sparkling clean with no dust in sight; the whole unit was beautiful; it was homey.

May walks back to her living room with a blood bag in hand and a tray with two glasses filled with blood.

She throws the blood bag right in Garrett's face, and with his agility, he catches the blood bag before it smacks his face. He scowls at her, popping the blood bag open. She snickered, placing the tray on the white coffee table.

Eden takes a glass, drinking gracefully while Rosalie stays in place; she does not drink human blood; she dismisses it. "I don't drink human blood."

May looked at her confusedly, then noticed her topaz eyes.

Animal blood drinker.

She shrugs and takes the glass for herself, and pushes Garrett slightly to make room for her to sit in, "So, what is it?"

Taking a sip, the liquid glided smoothly on her tongue. Eden was about to answer until Garrett took it upon himself to explain.

"You remember the old friend I told you about? Carlisle?" Garrett asks her, looking at her expectantly; she raises an eyebrow and nods, "What about him?"

"Basically, his son, Edward, fell in love with a human, then they got married and impregnated her during their honeymoon, and now the Volturi are targeting them after someone snitched on them with the impression that they made an immortal child," Garrett explains nonchalantly, taking the pillow beside him and hugging it.

May snatches the pillow in his hold, "You might stain my pillow; blood is hard to remove." She scolds.

Garrett just pouts. "Well, is it an immortal child?" May asks confusedly, looking at the two women in front of her.

"No." Eden denies quickly, "Immortal children are created with our venom; my niece was conceived by Bella, my sister-in-law, while she was still human; after she gave birth, she was turned." Eden explains shortly.

"Interesting." May replies, then tilts her head, looking at Eden curiously, and asks, "This concerns me how?"

"We need witnesses to prove that my niece is not an immortal child, a witness for the truth," Eden tells her.

"If the Volturi are targeting you and your family is gathering witnesses, It means a fight will happen." May looks at them with squinted eyes, suddenly feeling hesitant; she does not want to get mixed up in a messy situation where the Volturi are involved, and it didn't help that they tried to recruit her once as one of their guards.

"There will be war, May! We will be part of history once again!" Garrett exclaims enthusiastically as he stands up, his hands moving in the air.

May rolls her eyes and says, "And people who are in history are all dead." She takes a hold of his gray shirt and drags him back down on the couch.

"A heroic death." Garrett points out, and Eden interrupts, "No one is going to die; when the fight does happen, we are not forcing you to fight with us." She assures him with a soft yet nervous smile. They're desperate, May thought to herself.

"The child is half human and a half-vampire?" May clarified. She can't deny that the whole situation is interesting; she has never heard of such an occurrence of a vampire impregnating a human before, and she knows human-vampire relationships are frowned upon by the Volturi; it's in one of their rules.

"She is. and growing more rapidly than any human child." Rosalie chimes in. Even more interesting, she needs to see the child in person; after all, it doesn't happen all the time, and the child is one of a kind.

Then she thought to herself. The Volturi are threatened by a child who is most likely clueless as to why the royalty of the vampire community wants to kill her or take her, either of those two, really. The child doesn't deserve to be thrust into such a circumstance; it's a child. She's harmless.

"Fine by me." May sighs, agreeing to join; Eden and Rosalie look relieved, like a heavy weight was removed from their shoulders; she looks at Garrett, who is picking his nails; she grimaces, "You, why are you agreeing to this?"

"I'm bored." Garrett mischievously grins at her, and she rolls her eyes; she stands up and smooths the wrinkled fabric of her silk robe, "A proper introduction is in order, perhaps; my apologies for the rude greeting."

She gives them a smile, and Garrett scoffs, "Stop being nice. It's not you." She glares at him.

"My name is Eden, and my wife's name is Rosalie." Eden introduces them both with a polite smile.

"Harper May Knight. I prefer to be called Harper. Unlike someone who doesn't respect my requests." Harper looks at Garrett accusingly, and Garrett raises both of his hands in surrender.

"You never corrected me." Garrett reasons with a teasing smile.

"This is why I chose to live in Manchester." Harper tells them, and Garrett scowls, "Rude. Pack your shit. We're leaving; this place is making me itch."

"It didn't make you itch when you stepped on British soil?" Harper taunts him by crossing her arms.

Garrett replies, "It did and still does, but alas, I'm a man on a mission." Harper just scoffs in reply and takes the tray with the now empty glasses, placing it on the sink.

She walks towards her bedroom, looking behind her shoulder, saying, "They are guests, but you are not; wash those glasses while I pack."

Garrett groans, stomping his feet while walking towards the kitchen, but does what he is told anyway. "I do not deserve this treatment, May!"